Thanks to all of you. I appreciate your useful responses with their helpful leads. Actually what I am looking for is a featherweight, infinite electrical supply that can run everything up to and including refrigerators very easily.
Of course, that rig doesn't exist, not yet anyway, but technology in this area is rather active and one can only hope...There does not seem to be a clear leader in solar panels that can keep changing while one is moving along the trail (changing orientation, varying shade, etc). Someone should develop a wide brim hat with solar panels engineered for these conditions....
Living in SoCal, we are subject to power shutoff during high winds. in my experience lasting up to three days during Santa Ana winds, so solar power is reeally useful, eveen at home. i am proably not going to do many extended backpack trips, but I am looking forward to projects in remote locales of up to two or three weeks duration. Solar power is really handy in those situations.
I would agree with danthaman's comments re Goal Zero panels. Though GZ does have some excellent products, their panels are out performed by several other brands.
Although there are obvious inefficiencies in transferring power among devices, the need to charge when the sun is not shining requires at least some kind of battery, at least for now.....
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